


All You Need Is Love

by missxanon



Series: Fantasies Come True [2]
Category: Professional Wrestling
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-18
Updated: 2012-08-18
Packaged: 2017-11-12 10:07:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/489681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missxanon/pseuds/missxanon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zack is finding it hard to deal with the new Kane angle and the loss of his US Title. It's up to John Cena to help his distressed lover. Cena/Ryder. Fluff and angst abound.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All You Need Is Love

**Author's Note:**

> Cross posted from ff.net

Terrified screams pierced the quiet air of the hotel room, causing one John Cena to jolt awake. Beside him, his lover writhed, twisting himself in the blankets. The screams were now whimpers as he clawed at the mattress, John new what had caused this and he couldn't stand to see his lover in such pain.

"Zack," he said softly, shaking him slightly; "Zack, wake up, it's just a dream." It took some persuading and it tore John apart knowing how terrified and helpless his lover felt, but eventually, Zack was pulled out of his personal hell and he scrambled to cling to John, panting heavily, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry," John said, stroking Zack's hair and dropping kisses on the top of his head, letting him cry it out.

Zack swallowed his fear and scrubbed his hands across his face to dry off his tears.

"It's not your fault. I didn't think it would affect me like this," Zack said, his voice still thick and shaky.

John held Zack, wishing he knew how to make it better. Maybe if he understood Zack's fears better, he would know how to put them to rest.

"Just relax," he whispered; "Everything will be okay."

Zack read the script again. Of course they would continue on with him and the Kane angle as well as the Eve angle. Eve was a nice girl though, and he didn't mind pretending to date her, but now she was being dragged into the Kane thing and he felt bad for that, he could only hope it didn't affect her the way it affected him. Kane would be creeping on him for most of the night before coming after him and Eve. Reading it, Zack thought it sounded like a bad horror movie, and he hoped it would play out like one, it might help with the nightmares if it did.

The show went about as planned, but after, he could barely stand on his own and had to visit the medics to get his ribs taped. John helped him to their car, placing a kiss on his cheek before closing the door and going over to the driver's side.

"Are you going to be okay?" John asked.

"Fine," Zack answered; "but I don't know if I'll be able to wrestle tomorrow...or anytime soon." He stretched his muscles out, wincing as pain shot through his entire body.

"I'm sorry," John apologized, but Zack just shrugged.

"It's what we do. I wanted this job, I knew the risks going into it."

"I know, I just hate to see you in such pain," Cena said truthfully. Zack understood, he hated seeing his lover so worried about him.

"Relax, bro, I'll be fine," he said, attempting to sound carefree and sure of himself, even though that couldn't have been farther from the truth. John seemed to buy it and relaxed, and seeing his lover relaxing helped Zack to relax, however fractionally.

When they got back to the hotel, John helped Zack up to their room. He carried him through the door, laying him gingerly on the bed and crawling in beside him.

"Roll over," he ordered gently and Zack complied, as he always did when his lover gave him an order.

John pulled out a bottle of lotion, poured some of it on Zack's back, and started working at the sore muscles with his fingers. Zack let out a groan of pleasure, thanking God that he'd gotten someone like John to love and care for him. The painkillers were kicking in and those combined with the comfort of John's hands on him, rubbing the pain away, was enough to allow him to drift into a blissful and dreamless sleep.

He awoke the next morning, still on his stomach, John's arm thrown over him and John curled into him. His back and ribs were killing him and as much as he didn't want to wake his sleeping lover, he needed his painkillers, the pain almost debilitating. He pulled himself out of the bed, cursing as pain shot through his entire body, and pushing down the part of him that was second guessing his career choice. John stirred and sat up sleepily as Zack made his way over to the table where his Vicodin was sitting, pulling out a pill and finding a water bottle. He drained the water, his throat was parched and it wasn't until after he let out a long belch that he realized that he was also starving.

"Nice one," John chuckled, it was times like these that he realized just how much he really did love Zack. He hadn't said it yet, not knowing if it was too soon, they really hadn't even been dating a month yet, but he knew; he just wondered if Zack had caught on yet, or if he was on the verge of realizing that John really was just a silly crush.

Zack smiled at him, his eyes lighting up, "Yeah, but now I'm hungry," he stated and John laughed some more.

"How about we order some room service, breakfast in bed," John suggested. Zack crawled back into the bed beside him and nodded.

"Sounds like a plan, bro," he said. The painkillers kicked in much faster this time and by the time the food came, he was sprawled out beside John on the bed, whimpering slightly when his lover had to get up and answer the door.

John wheeled the platter of food in, "Enjoy," he said, uncovering the steaming hot food. On the platter, there was eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, and some strawberries with chocolate and whipped cream for dipping. They started off eating their breakfast in comfortable silence before John grabbed one of the strawberries, dipped it in the whipped cream, and went to feed it to Zack. He miscalculated however, and ended up catching Zack on the nose, leaving behind some white fluff. Zack scrunched his nose up, giggling slightly, and opening his mouth wide so that John could actually hit his mark.

They took turns feeding each other the strawberries until they were gone, making a mess and covering each other's faces with chocolate and whipped cream. Zack sprawled out, full, happy, and blissfully pain free while John left to fetch a wet cloth from the bathroom to clean their faces with.

"You're being too good to me," Zack said, the painkillers having switched off the filter in his brain, making words come out before he'd even finished thinking them.

"You deserve it," John said without a thought; "You've worked hard these last few months. Harder than anyone would have thought you could or would."

Zack wanted to reply, but it was cut off by a yawn.

"You also deserve a day of resting in bed," John said.

"Will you stay here with me? I'll go out of my mind with boredom if you don't," Zack asked and he looked so vulnerable and the bed looked so inviting that he couldn't say no.

"Until I have to go do the house show," he said, wrapping his young lover gently in his arms, taking care not to aggravate his injuries. Soon, Zack was snoring softly and John followed not long after, taking advantage of the fact that he had the whole day to just lay in bed with his lover.

The rest of the week was nowhere near as relaxing as the first day. There was an insane amount of traveling and Zack was in and out of the medical stations almost every day, trying to get cleared for the show on Monday. He was scheduled to defend his belt against Jack Swagger and as the days passed, he became less and less confident that he'd actually be able to wrestle.

As Monday drew nearer, he grew more and more nervous, until it was finally the night of the show. He was sitting in the locker room, pulling his boots on and trying to ignore his worried pacing lover.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked, stopping to look at Zack.

"Do I have a choice? If Laurinaitis says I'm okay to wrestle, I guess I'm wrestling," Zack said, standing up and wincing, the painkillers were starting to lose their effectiveness and that only added to his worry.

"I have to go and get my ribs re-taped, you want to come?"

"Of course," John said sighing. He couldn't help feeling like this wasn't going to end well, but he knew he had to keep a brave face for his young lover.

The medic put fresh bandages on him, the entire time giving Zack nervous looks. When he finally finished, he dismissed them and Zack swallowed the pain, preparing to go out to the ring. He waited for the end of the tag team championship match,the anxiety building within him, Eve standing next to him, rubbing one of his shoulders comfortingly. Eve would be going out to the ring with him to stand ringside and cheer him on and he was grateful to have such a good friend, especially after what had happened to AJ Lee on Smackdown.

"Just relax Zack, you've got this," she whispered reassuringly as they made their entrance. Swagger was already in the ring, and Zack tried to act confident and excited for the crowd, but he didn't feel it.

John sat in his dressing room, watching Zack's match. The bell rang and Zack started off down, Swagger dominating him throughout the entire match. He gave it his all and John winced every time Zack hit the mat or the turnbuckle and the rage that rose within him scared him slightly. He couldn't stand to see Zack getting hurt, and part of him wanted to interfere, but he knew Zack wouldn't be happy if he tried, that he liked to fight his own battles. It continued on and it took three tries before Swagger was able to pin Zack and win the title.

When Zack lost, the expression on his face broke John's heart. He knew how much the title had meant to him and to have lost it so soon had to be killing him. John could barely keep his cool enough to not run out and hold his crying lover, but he managed, knowing he'd have his chance soon. The next thing he knew, they were backstage, taping Zack being checked over. Most people probably thought his pain was an act, but John knew otherwise, and it was tearing him apart inside, not being able to help his lover. When Laurinaitis came in and admitted that Zack hadn't been medically cleared to compete, John saw red. He knew Laurinaitis was an ass, and that he didn't like Zack, but to go this far was unforgivable and it was time someone other than Punk stood up to him.

He stormed into the room, more consumed by rage than he ever had been before, and confronted his boss. Laurinaitis tried to feed him some bullshit about 'liking the kid' and being sorry that John saw right through. He threw out some shit about being worried about Kane and then made a match between John and Swagger. He knew his anger at Swagger was somewhat misguided, but he needed somewhere to channel his anger and this wasn't the time or place to let Laurinaitis know just what he was capable of.

He went out to the ring, not for his fans, not for his haters, but for Zack. He didn't bother throwing his hat to the crowd and didn't even get his shirt entirely off before he started in on Swagger. The bell never rung, but he didn't give a shit, he just kept pounding on the younger man, letting his rage take him over. He threw Swagger around, not letting him get a move in edge-wise, he didn't deserve to anyway, it was only fair for him to get a taste of his own medicine.

Just as John was about to drop the steel steps on him and possibly end his career, Kane's entrance began. He dropped the steps and hurried into the ring, preparing to meet his enemy and show him just what happened to people who hurt his lover. He was disappointed to see that it was a video and not Kane himself, but the promise that they'd meet at the Royal Rumble calmed John slightly. The video ended and he couldn't help but see the truth in Kane's words, he was getting it. He'd never reacted this way before, but then, he'd never had anything so precious to him before. He left the ring, the crowd half stunned, half freaking out, and none of it mattered, he had to find his Zack and make sure he was okay.

Zack had been watching his lover's match with Swagger and he couldn't help but be a little freaked out at his new-found anger and his brutal beat down of the weaker man. But at the same time, he felt glad to have someone like John in his corner, sticking up for him when he couldn't stick up for himself. The segment ended after Kane interrupted the match and taunted John a little and shortly after that, John stormed into the dressing room, still flustered, a grimace pulling his face down and fire still burning hot in his eyes. The moment he laid eyes on Zack though, it all faded, transitioning to sad and sympathetic almost instantly.

"I'm so sorry, Zack," he said, taking his boy into his arms.

"It was my dream," Zack said, unable to find it in him to feel anything but the same shocked numbness that had taken over him after his match; "it was what brought me to you."

It was then that the dam broke, all his emotions began pouring out. John whispered comfortingly, encouraging Zack to just let it all out. He cried for what felt like ages, dry sobs shaking his body long after he'd exhausted himself of tears.

"You sacrificed so much so that I could get that title," he choked out and John was taken aback by his lover's concern for him in this situation.

"It's okay Zack, they're just titles."

Zack looked at him as if he'd just admitted that he enjoyed eating puppies and John couldn't help but chuckle at his lover's expression.

"Look Zack, titles mean nothing in the long run. Not for people like us anyway. They're just shiny belts we compete for so they can have bragging rights and so we can pretend for a while that we're better than everyone else. A life that revolves around that is empty and meaningless. When it comes right down to it, we've already got the only thing that matters. I love you, Zack," John punctuated his point by kissing Zack deeply and without abandon. Zack happily accepted the kiss, opening his mouth to grant access, their tongues moving expertly together, both knew the other so well that they were synced up from the start.

When the kiss finally broke, Zack was flushed and even smiling a little, "I love you too," he breathed.

They sat together quietly, enjoying the feel of the other so close.

"Besides," John said, breaking the silence and grinning; "you always have your rematch."


End file.
